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Graduate School

November 20, 2023

To:                   Members of the UAMS Graduate Council

From:               Dr. Antiño Allen, Chair

Subject:           Graduate Council Meeting Minutes – November 20, 2023   

Members Present: Drs. Antino Allen, Davis Ussery, Andrew James, Melanie MacNicol, Clare Brown, Martha Rojo, Lisa Jansen, Isabelle Miousse, Mohammed Orloff, Gregory Robinson. Huiliang Zhang (Nirmala Parajuli)

Members Absent: Drs. Lin-Xi Li, Brooke Montgomery, Frank Simmen

Non-voting Members Present: Drs. Sean Taverna, Latrina Prince, and Charlotte Gass (Recorder), Md. Mohsin Ali (GSA President)

Guest: Dr. Karl Boehme

Approval of Minutes from the Previous Meeting:  Dr. Antiño Allen started the meeting by asking for approval of the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved (1st by Dr. David Ussery and 2nd by Dr. Andrew James). 

Administrative Items – Dr. Sean Taverna
Dr. Taverna gave a greeting and would like to continue the success that Dr. McGehee has implemented in the UAMS Graduate School. 

Admissions 

Dr. Taverna would like to set a position to improve admissions transparency and a better recruiting session for faculty/staff.  

  • Introduction to Admissions Rubrics
  • Will Go-Live this admissions cyle for GPIBS (Pilot), but other programs are more than welcome to adopt the rubrics into their admissions process 
  • Rubric will be available in RedCap or Microsoft Word
  • Latrina and Dr. Taverna reviewed both surveys

The first survey will be used for the 1st pool of potential candidates/applicants.  Every applicant is reviewed by 2 or 3 evaluators who will submit a rating based on 8 questions, including an overall score.  The goal is to invite potential candidates that score within a certain range.   

The second survey will be used for the general interview. The goal is to have 3 interviewers per student [applicant].  It will contain 3 questions to help drive discussion and create a holistic approach for admissions. 

Discussion about Rubrics/Admissions Surveys 

Greg Robinson:

  • Can this rubric be flexible or adapted for our program?  
  • Dr. Taverna – Yes; that is the goal.  The rubric can be flexible to help you provide a better holistic approach to the admissions process.     
  • How is this being evaluated or data implemented for the admissions process?   
  • Dr. Taverna – Part of the rubric is to evaluate if the student has taken the appropriate coursework and experiences to be successful or ready for the program. An idea would be for the applicant to incorporate research or mentor ideas in their Statement of Purpose.  

Antino Allen: 

  • How do you capture the experience of a non-traditional student? For example, those who are only able to do limited research and have military experience.   
  • Dr. Taverna – One of the questions allows the candidates to describe what leadership traits drive the applicant and/or special considerations.  Hopefully, this will allow those students to be able to be seen.   

David Ussery (Via Zoom Chat): 

  • I think BOTH are important, but background screening is really important (speaking from more than 30 years of experience with graduate students!!). Occasionally the mentor might miss out on some potential problem spots in the students’ academic background…. 

Mohammed Orloff:  

  • Will this help or hurt our international students?   
  • Dr. Taverna – It should not hurt any students, but might provide the opportunity to train our evaluators or add additional questions for international students.  

Melda Onal:  

  • Would it be appropriate to ad-hoc evaluators to help provide guidance from other countries based on the student?  Example: This particular university is really good vs. another from a particular country.   
  • Dr. Taverna – Yes, it would be great for faculty to be a resource across programs as needed.   The SOP and LORs typically help support if an applicant is ready and prepared for graduate level coursework.  

Huiliang Zhang:  

  • Will there be two reviews per discipline?  
  • Dr. Taverna – I would like to have the admissions committee to view applications as a whole and not based on track. We want to get the best applicants across the board.   

Karl Boehme 

  • We would like to make it a more holistic approach.  It would take the territorial/discipline view only away.  He likes this new process and clear rubric/process. Yes, he believes it will have to open up the admissions committee vs 2 per discipline and loves the idea of having and using faculty as resources to help with review 

Clare Brown (Via Zoom Chat): 

  • To Dr. Onal’s point, perhaps we could develop some questions to help facilitate international students in their ability/opportunity to advocate for their unique experiences, both educational and otherwise, such as “We have carefully reviewed your transcripts and past educational experiences, can you tell us the one or two things you are most proud of regarding XYZ so that we can better understand your strengths?”– perhaps this would work for Dr. Allen’s question as well related to the ROTC/military 

Sean Taverna:

  • The rubrics – Will take it back to the committee and make minor changes as needed to roll out. 

Chat GPT 

Sean Taverna:

  • ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched on November 30, 2022. Based on a large language model, it enables users to refine and steer a conversation towards a desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language. 
  • The UAMS Graduate School/Graduate Council needs to come to an agreement to between using the resource to reenforce vs. just copying data.
  • Points of Discussion on GPT 
  • Using AI in work 
  • Maybe implement a pledge to not use AI on assignments, etc.  
  • Issue is not going away 

Gregory Robinson:  

  • AI (Master Program – Ran into this issue during admissions) 
  • Ask for an experience or tell us about a time when….  
  • Exit Interviews —- Anonymous survey to ask if they used it and to what extent 

David Ussery:  

  • AI in terms of exam or curriculum  
  • Uses it in several courses  
  • If done properly, it can help or benefit 
  • Lots of Private Information is there that shouldn’t be #yikes 
  • Chat message by Ussery “- PhD research requires original research – so by definition, there are NO ‘correct answers’ – they are exploring things not known. So in terms of ‘critical thinking’, this is just another tool to be used in research….”

Isabelle Miousse:  

  • It is important to teach them [students] how to use it.  

Latrina Prince:  

  • Policy: Academic Dishonesty 
  • Latrina shared her screen and showed the policy. She also indicated that violating the Academic Dishonest Policy is grounds for student dismissal. This was passed by the council of deans. 

Lisa Jansen:  

  • Topic of completely using AI vs using it as a resource: How does this comply with the policy? 
  • Students can’t solely rely on AI for work. 

Administrative Items – Latrina Prince

  • Academic policies will be emailed when revisions are made or new policies developed.
  • The new UAMS course renumbering system will begin the spring 2024 term.  Please revise all syllabus, websites, and program of studies to the new renumbering system. 
  • Spring 2024 registration in now open in GUS.  The last day for students to self-enroll in GUS is January 12th.  The 1st day of the spring 2024 term is January 8, 2024. 
  • Workday Student is currently in the configuration phase.  The Student Records, Recruitment & Admissions, and other modules are now in the testing phase.  
  • Recruitment and admissions will go live in fall 2024, as well as student records. 
  • The UAMS Graduate School has a new employee.  Her name is Debra Johnson and her first day is December 1, 2023.  She will be replacing Kelli Roy.   

2023-2024 GSA President Report – MD Mohsin Ali

  • The students and association is having a good semester. 
  • The GSA is meeting regularly.   
  • At this time, the GSA is trying to confirm what the students need and want. 
  • GSA Activities: New Student Orientation, planning an activity after Thanksgiving, and will be in attendance to confirm what the students want or need 
  • December 1st : Meet & Greet 
  • GSA would like a newsletter to communicate across all Graduate School students
  • Mohsin signed off after giving the GSA report 

Other Administrative Items – Latrina Prince

  • New GC Member: Martha Rojo (replacing Dean Patricia Cowan)  
  • Melda Onal (would like to be replaced – offline conversation with Dr. Prince) and we need to find a replacement for Dr. Frank Simmens who will retire in December.

Committee Reports 

Curriculum  

Melda Onal 

The curriculum subcommittee has been meeting and having engagement through emails. 

  • New PHD in Environment Health Services (Reviewing Curriculum and Courses) 
  • Next step is for the Graduate Council to approve, then the Council of Deans, ADHE, etc.  
  • The tentative start date is Fall 2024, although it’s more likely to start in Fall 2025 
  • New PHD in Behavioral Sciences (Reviewing Curriculum and Courses) 
  • Next step for Graduate Council to approve, then the Council of Deans, ADHE, etc.  
  • The tentative start date is Fall 2024, although it’s more likely to start in Fall 2025

Faculty Committee

David Ussery 

  • Provided an update on faculty appointments since the last meeting and emailed the list to the committee.

Academic Senate 

Isabelle Miousse/Clare Brown 

  • Please take the survey that was just sent out – Academic Faculty Survey sent by Dr. Kristen Sterba, Dr. Wendy Ward, and/or Dr. Kat Neil 
  • UALR Trojans night:
  • Faculty must request tickets 
  • Able to give to students/staff 

Clare Brown

  • Provided a brief update on the COM Deans search

There was no other business to discuss; therefore, Dr. Sean Taverna thanked everyone for their time and patience during his learning curve.  Dr. Latrina Prince told the committee to have a Happy Thanksgiving.  The meeting was adjourned.  
  

The meeting adjourned at 1:59 p.m.